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Table of Contents
DISCLAIMER ................................................................................................................................... 4
Off-grid Survival: How to Track Food in the Woods ................................................................. 5
Knowing Your Hunting Area .................................................................................................................................. 5
Know the Lay of the Land ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Tracking in Your Hunting Area .............................................................................................................................. 8
Some Notes on Specific Animals .......................................................................................................................... 9
What to Hunt and Fish .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Making Small Game Traps for Survival ..................................................................................... 12
Small Game to Hunt ............................................................................................................................................... 13
The Traps .................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Tips for Using Traps ................................................................................................................................................ 14
Tips for Trapping & Hunting for Survival ................................................................................ 16
Don’t Discriminate................................................................................................................................................... 16
Use Traps .................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Stock Proper Ammunition .................................................................................................................................... 17
Be Patient.................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Get a Good Knife ..................................................................................................................................................... 18
Practice, Practice, Practice! ................................................................................................................................... 18
Don’t Eat… .................................................................................................................................................................. 18
Drying, Salting & Smoking .................................................................................................................................. 19
Other Edible Critters ............................................................................................................................................... 19
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How to Field Dress an Animal .................................................................................................... 20
Use Clean Instruments! ......................................................................................................................................... 20
Eviscerating ................................................................................................................................................................ 21
Skinning....................................................................................................................................................................... 23
Preserving Food When Surviving in the Wild .......................................................................... 24
Freezing ....................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Dehydration ............................................................................................................................................................... 25
Sun Drying Foods ................................................................................................................................................ 25
Smoke Drying Technique ................................................................................................................................. 26
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DISCLAIMER
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN “SHORTCUT HUNTING SECRETS” IS MEANT TO SERVE AS
A COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION OF TIME-TESTED AND PROVEN STRATEGIES THAT THE
AUTHORS OF THIS COURSE LEARN OVER THE YEARS. SUMMARIES, STRATEGIES, TIPS AND
TRICKS ARE ONLY RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE AUTHORS, AND READING THIS EBOOK DOES
NOT GUARANTEE THAT ONE’S RESULTS WILL EXACTLY MIRROR OUR OWN RESULTS. THE
AUTHOR OF “SHORTCUT HUNTING SECRETS” HAS MADE ALL REASONABLE EFFORTS TO
PROVIDE CURRENT AND ACCURATE INFORMATION FOR THE READERS OF THIS COURSE. THE
AUTHOR WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY UNINTENTIONAL ERRORS OR OMISSIONS THAT
MAY BE FOUND.
THE MATERIAL IN “SHORTCUT HUNTING SECRETS” MAY INCLUDE INFORMATION,
PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES BY THIRD PARTIES. THIRD PARTY MATERIALS COMPRISE OF THE
PRODUCTS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY THEIR OWNERS. AS SUCH, THE AUTHORS OF THIS
GUIDE DO NOT ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR ANY THIRD PARTY MATERIAL OR
OPINIONS.THE PUBLICATION OF SUCH THIRD PARTY MATERIALS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE
AUTHORS’ GUARANTEE OF ANY INFORMATION, INSTRUCTION, OPINION, PRODUCTS OR
SERVICE CONTAINED WITHIN THE THIRD PARTY MATERIAL.
WHETHER BECAUSE OF THE GENERAL EVOLUTION OF THE INTERNET, OR THE UNFORESEEN
CHANGES IN COMPANY POLICY AND EDITORIAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES, WHAT IS STATED
AS FACT AT THE TIME OF THIS WRITING, MAY BECOME OUTDATED OR SIMPLY INAPPLICABLE
AT A LATER DATE. THIS MAY APPLY TO THE “SHORTCUT HUNTING SECRETS” AS WELL AS
THE VARIOUS SIMILAR COMPANIES THAT WEHAVE REFERENCED IN THIS EBOOK, AND OUR
SEVERAL COMPLEMENTARY GUIDES. GREAT EFFORT HAS BEEN EXERTED TO SAFEGUARD THE
ACCURACY OF THIS WRITING. OPINIONS REGARDING SIMILAR WEBSITE PLATFORMS HAVE
BEEN FORMULATED AS A RESULT OF BOTH PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, AS WELL AS THE WELL
DOCUMENTED EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS.
NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION SHALL BE REPRODUCED, TRANSMITTED OR RESOLD IN
WHOLE OR IN PART IN ANY FORM, WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE
AUTHORS. ALL TRADEMARKS AND REGISTERED TRADEMARKS APPEARING IN “SHORTCUT
HUNTING SECRETS” ARE THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNER.
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Off-grid Survival: How to Track Food
in the Woods
Tracking animals and humans in the woods is an art form worth mastering for survival needs.
Depending on what you are hunting, you must search from the ground to the tree tops looking
for something that has been disturbed or out of place. It will take experience to learn the
difference between natural disturbances such as wind or rain and the presence of an animal.
For safer and more productive hunts you must also know your hunting area and check it over on
a routine basis. In the aftermath of a crisis, other survivors may enter your hunting area or
territory and set up deadly traps or try to steal prey you take from a successful hunt.
Knowing Your Hunting Area
Once you have secured your targeted hunting area, you should make a note of the presence of
animals that will be useful for food and other needs.
This survey should include an assessment of typical lairs, ground cover, and anything else that
might help you locate prey faster as well as get some ideas about the number of available
animals and the long term sustainability of hunting them.
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Here are some other things that you should always be aware of in the hunting zone:
Water usually needs to be clean, running, and not contaminated. Streams, rivers, and
ponds are usually a good place to find animal tracks. If you follow these tracks, you will
be able to locate well used animal trails and crossings that reveal when animals are most
likely to pass through.
Game animals’ food sources must be plentiful and not contaminated. For example, fields
that deer, bear, and turkey graze in must be free of trash, dumped industrial waste, or
abandoned rusted out vehicles. Many large and small game animals need a green
pasture or meadow surrounded by forest. In woodlands game animals will eat berries,
nuts, new leave growth, or feed in small patches of grass.
Desert terrains tend to be more complicated, but you can still look for natural sand
depressions, water holes, rock outcroppings, and tumble weeds for signs of suitable
prey. Since prey can usually learn of your presence with ease, it may be very hard to
hunt in the desert without using traps or advanced hunting skills based in experience
with type of hunting.
All game animals require cover. For deer, bear, turkeys, and other small game animals a
good brush pile, log pile, or a thicket will do. Here all the game animals can relax and
rest without being seen. If a predator or a man gets too close these animals can flee out
of sight with ease.
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Know the Lay of the Land
When approaching a new hunting area, you should always have general idea of the land type. Is
this area mountainous, rolling hills, flat, swampy, or desert? Each type of land requires different
hunting skills and tracking methods.
Mountainous areas with very steep changes in altitude, a lot of loose stone covering the
ground, and extremely hard ground make it hard to find or follow animal tracks. You will
need to rely on leaf disturbances, droppings, gnaw marks, odors, and other signs of
animal presence.
Rolling hills with a combination of forests and meadows are much easier to track with
the softer soil and moister content. You should be able to determine the age of track
impressions, direction of travel, and the number of animals that made tracks.
Flat lands have little or no change in altitude. Forests in this area offer some cover for
the tracker, but the game animals have a better chance to flee after being spotted. Here
they can run full out and even jump great distances to break up their trail. Once you
locate a suitable crossing area, it will be best to build a stand, blind, or some other hiding
place that will enable you to go unnoticed by your targeted prey.
Tracking in swamps can be very dangerous and may be impossible. Aside from large
amount of water and very little dry land, animal tracks will be few and far between. While
you are hunting, you may encounter quicksand, poisonous snakes, and difficulty with
navigation.
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Desert terrain may yield tracks, but it may be very hard to determine their age. If you
do not pay careful attention to hydration and navigational bearings, you can get lost
easily or fooled by mirages. It is also important to note that sand storms can blow up
suddenly and bury you, or cause other problems. Since deserts often get very cold at
night, you will need to have suitable clothing for extreme cold as well as heat.
Tracking in Your Hunting Area
No matter whether you are hunting for practice, or dealing with a crisis, you should always have
a hunting plan. Always try to leave this information with a friend or family member in case you
do not return on time. While it may not be possible for this person to organize a search party in
a crisis, at least someone will know you are missing.
Mother Nature has many safe guards to protect all animals living there. The first safe guard is
silence. When something is wrong or unusual the birds and insects stop singing. This puts all
creatures on alert.
At this point the animal’s flight or run instinct kicks in and they leave the area. If you pass this
test then quickly and quietly as possible enter the hunting grounds.
If you have hunted this area before then slowly stalk your way to the game trail of choice. Look
for disrupted areas including over-turned leaves on the ground or bent and twisted grass
blades. When you look closer at the ground, it may be possible to see animal tracks.
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For me, forests that have recently had a little rain are easier to track animals in because the
damp soil gives a better print and trail. If the dirt is dry it will still leave a print, but not as
noticeable. Streams and water holes also make some of the best places to search for game
animals.
This is a place where animals will come to you. Areas around clean, potable water will always
have plenty of tracks, therefore, even if you arrive at the wrong time of day, simply wait for the
animals to show up at their usual time.
Some Notes on Specific Animals
Deer – When they are walking normally through the woods, deer leave a good trail to follow. If
they are spooked or otherwise scared they will run, and then leap ten feet or more per bound,
which makes it very hard to track them.
Bear – If you are hunting bear or just come across its trail, be very careful, and stay down wind
so the bear cannot catch your scent. Unlike other animals, you are far more likely to be the
bear’s prey than the other way around. A bear may walk or lumber slowly, but beware of it.
Bears may look slow and fat, but can close on you with unbelievable speed.
A human is no match for a bear’s strong paws, which have deadly claws, plus teeth and fangs
designed for ripping and tearing. Quite frankly, even if you have a suitable rifle, it is downright
foolish and irresponsible to tackle a bear on your own. If you must hunt a bear for food, back
away from the track and assemble a party that can take it out safely.
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Other animals that can be tracked in the woods are raccoon, opossum, squirrel,
rabbit, muskrat, and fox. If you are hungry they all can be eaten. They may taste funny or very
gamey, but they will keep you and your family alive. When you take an animal’s life, make a
point to use all it has given including the fur and bones.
In conclusion the art of tracking is a must have ability. Without it your chances of your survival in
times of post crisis will be from slim to none.
Even if you are a world class marksman or archer, without the ability to track your game, you
might as well be shooting at paper targets instead of trying to put fresh game on the table.
What to Hunt and Fish
When you go hunting, always use appropriate caliber bullets or pellets. Ammo that is too large
will destroy the meat while ammo that is too small will not kill effectively and make it possible
for prey to escape.
Also, being successful hunting certain types of game depends on your experience and the
available equipment.
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Hunting and foraging parties should be out searching for food long before the stockpile is over,
than you should be able to preserve food so that it will last without spoiling.
But we will talk about preserving food for your off-grid survival in another article, so keep an eye
on our website to read it.
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Making Small Game Traps for Survival
In a real life survival situation, knowing how to live off the land may be crucial for you and your
family. Along with shelter, fire and water, food is one of those things we’re all dependent upon,
hence the fine art of hunting has been practiced by humans since time immemorial.
All ancient cultures had a cult for hunting and one of the best methods of putting meat on the
table whilst conserving your time and your energy is to hunt with traps and snares.
The best thing about traps as survival tools is that you can build them on the spot, and they
don’t require specialized equipment since they’re improvised (think guerilla warfare). Also, they
work 24/7 by themselves and unsupervised, so you can do other things while hunting with traps,
like sleeping, gathering wood, or whatever else is needed.
Traps can be defined as a survivalist’s secret weapon. A trap is not as flashy and bad-ass looking
when compared to a tactical knife, but it’s one of the most reliable and effective tools for
gathering food off the land. In a survival situation, hunting small game with traps and snares is
the best option. Small game is abundant in almost all areas, in wilderness or near/inside the
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cities. There are a few proven methods that work when hunting small mammals, rodents, birds
or waterfowl.
In short, a trap/snare device works by choking, crushing or entangling the animals you’re
targeting. When building a trap or a snare, you must keep it as simple as possible – nothing
fancy. Practicality and efficiency is the name of the game.
Small Game to Hunt
The first step is to determine what kind of animal you’re trying to catch because there are
different trapping methods for different species. There are no “one size fits all” kind of traps.
Usually, small game consists of rabbit, squirrel, dove, chipmunk, packrat, mice, raccoon, beaver,
fish etc; basically any living thing that crawls, flies or swims and is made of meat is fair game.
When you’re in a survival situation, you can’t afford the luxury of being picky about your food.
A hard-core prepper should be aware of the animals available in his/hers area and have
knowledge about their habitat, their habits, their mating cycles and what they eat. Knowing what
kind of tracks they leave is also beneficial. Like Sun Tzu said in The Art of War, “Know your
enemy, 100 battles, 100 victories.”
The Traps
Next, you must know how to build a trap or a snare. There
are a few basic types of traps that work on almost all small
game species.
1.The simple snare trap consists of a noose that is placed
over a trail or a den hole and connected to a stake.
The noose must be large enough to allow the animal’s
head to pass through; as the “victim’s” head moves through
the snare, the noose will tighten around its neck and as the
animal fights to get loose, the snare will strangle it.
It sounds very simple, but it’s extremely effective in the right
situations.
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You can improve your chance of success by baiting the
trap, thus drawing the animal towards it. As bait, you
should use a food source that is not abundant in the area,
yet the animal is familiar with.
Using bait when fishing isn’t an option if you want to
catch one.
A great bait for small mammals is peanut butter (from a
MRE ration for example).
When using bait, you can use “samples” to attract the animal’s attention, by scattering little bits
around the trap.
2. Another classic trap in the field is the figure-
four dead fall.
This trap uses a trigger in order to drop a
heavy object over the animal.
The object must be heavy enough to kill the
target upon impact.
3. The Dead Fall Pit works on small, medium
and large animals.
The only bad thing is that it requires a great amount of energy to
build it, but it is very efficient.
You must first find a game trail and then you should dig the pit near
it. When you consider the pit deep enough to hold the game inside
it, you must place sharpened sticks at the bottom and then build a
grill from sticks and branches to cover the hole.
Use leaves and grass to cover the grill and you’re ready to go.
Tips for Using Traps
These are some of the most used and easy to build traps and snares.
A few things to consider when using them:
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You must position the traps where there is definitive proof that there are animals passing
through, in order to be effective.
Trap concealment is essential. You should avoid messing around with the vegetation and
creating disturbance when installing the trap, as these things will alarm the
animals. Don’t use freshly cut vegetation when constructing traps or snares.
You must remove your scent from on and around the trap, or at least mask it with
something. Removing the scent is next to impossible, especially in a survival scenario,
but leaving it to begin with is another thing: using mud from a place with rotting
vegetation works like a charm. You should use this mud to cover your hands when you’re
handling the snare/trap and also to coat the trap when you’re setting it. Another trick is
to use smoke for masking your scent on the trap parts.
Now that you have some ideas about the different types of traps, you’re a little better prepared
to survive in the case of a SHTF scenario.
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Tips for Trapping & Hunting for
Survival
Hunting, trapping and gathering from nature in a post-SHTF situation probably won’t provide
you with all the food you need to survive, but such skills can help to supplement limited
supplies. Assuming you aren’t in a totally lifeless urban area, most regions of the world teem
with some form of natural life, from bugs and birds to small mammals and larger game.
The most populous wild animals in most of the US include deer, rabbits, nutria, wild ducks and
geese, turkey, quail, and pheasant. Many regions also have elk, moose, pronghorn antelope
(though they technically aren’t antelope), wild goats and even wild boar.
These larger game animals are just what you would want to hunt in a survival situation, but
more often than not you may need to focus on smaller prey like rabbits and squirrel.
Don’t Discriminate
Right now, you probably don’t fancy yourself as someone who will eat squirrels, groundhogs or
possums, but when times get tough you may discover that such critters are a welcome addition
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to your dinner table. The rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t be overly discriminatory when it
comes to what you will or will not eat in a bare-bones survival situation. The less you
discriminate, the more likely it is that you will survive to eat a more refined meal another day.
Use Traps
You might not have thought about it, but some
of the mouse and rat traps that are available are
actually a pretty good investment in case of an
emergency.
Mice, and rats for that matter, may not be high
up on your post-SHTF menu, but if something
can catch a rat it can also catch a squirrel or any
number of other similarly sized critters. Mouse
and rat traps are also great to have on hand
simply because they can catch vermin that might try to access you stored food.
Another simple, effective trap is a snare. Easily constructed from paracord, a few dozen snares
placed in the right locations can potentially net you a variety of creatures. Snares are great for
catching birds and small mammals, including possums and raccoons. In any case, traps of all
shapes and sizes are a useful tool in your arsenal and you should make use of them.
Stock Proper Ammunition
If you intend to hunt using a weapon, be sure to stock plenty of the proper ammunition. Your
AK-74 or AR-15 rifle for fending off assailants is not quite what you’ll want to take out hunting.
A .22 LR or a 12 or 20 gauge shotgun is more suitable for hunting, depending on what kind of
game you’re after. Some hunters prefer to use a bow and arrow, or a crossbow, but whatever
your weapon of choice be certain you have plenty of ammunition for it.
Be Patient
Another important aspect of successful hunting is patience. Sometimes you’ve simply got to sit
tight and wait out your prey, as in the case of staking out a known watering area, mating ground
or feeding area. Getting impatient or trekking all over the countryside is more likely to leave you
tired, disappointed and still hungry than to result in a successful hunt and a filled belly.
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Get a Good Knife
One of the most useful tools you will need to
hunt and /or trap successfully is a reliable knife.
Many survivalists and hunters prefer something
with a 6” – 9” blade, which should be kept sharp
and well cared for at all times.
You’ll need a good knife in order to bleed out
and field dress any game that you succeed in
killing, as well as to assist in butchering larger
animals as needed. A good knife can also be used to make snares, prepare kindling, and for self-
defense.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
As with all things related to prepping, from gardening to cooking to sewing your own clothes,
now is the time to practice, practice and practice some more. When it comes to hunting, practice
is especially important because you’ll want to be able to successfully hunt and kill something to
eat if or when the time comes and you’re starving.
Locating and tracking suitable prey is one of the skills that you’ll need to practice in order to be
a good hunter, otherwise you’re liable to spend a lot of time searching fruitlessly for something
to eat and slowly starving in the interim.
Don’t Eat…
There are some things you shouldn’t eat, though.
At the top of the list is already dead animals. Tempting though the meat may be when you’re
starving, don’t eat animals that you find dead or dying. Such animals could have died for any
number of reasons unknown to you, including poisoning, parasitic infection, disease and so on.
Likewise, don’t hunt or consume the meat of animals that are ill, cooking the flesh will not make
it safe for consumption.
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Drying, Salting & Smoking
To go hand in hand with your hunting and
trapping skills, it would also be a good idea
to familiarize yourself with the basics of
salting, drying and /or smoking meats.
Such treatments will allow you to store meats
for much longer periods of time, thus
ensuring that you and your family have food
and that as little of your kill goes to waste as
possible. Be sure to stock up on plenty of salt if you know, or anticipate, that you will be doing a
substantial amount of hunting to survive.
Other Edible Critters
Depending on your level of squeamishness, there are a variety of less desirable animals that
have been (and in some places still are) consumed throughout human history.
These include certain species of frogs, certain types of insects, caterpillars, many types of ants,
and bees among others. Even turtles, tortoises, and alligators are edible if you can catch them,
as are raccoons, skunks, weasels and possums.
Snails, slugs, lizards, geckos and snakes are all potentially edible as well, and you might be
surprised by how much nutrition such animals can contain. Bugs such as ants, for instance, are
an excellent source of protein. Then there are traditional predators, including bears, wolves,
coyotes, foxes, and mountain lions.
While you might not want to go out of your way to hunt known predators like these, they are
certainly edible if you do happen to kill them.
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How to Field Dress an Animal
Hunting and fishing are the bread and butter for all survivalists out there. Besides being a very
enjoyable activity for your spare time, hunting actually serves a purpose, i.e. putting food on the
table in a survival situation. Knowing how to hunt and how to dress small/big game might really
save your life at some point.
Now, dressing game is not the most pleasurable thing to do. But, you’ve gotta do what you’ve
gotta do. I like rabbits too, but when it comes to survival, you know, better him than me!
Keep reading and I will try to share with you the main principles of the fine arts of hunting and
field dressing. But you must remember that practice makes perfect, this is just a crash course in
dressing game.
Use Clean Instruments!
One of the most important things to remember, if you field dress animals/birds/fish, is that there
is a risk of contaminating the meat with food-borne pathogens. For example, like any other kind
of perishable meat, both raw and cooked game can be infested with dangerous bacteria, such as
salmonellae or pathogens like E-Coli.
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Unlike supermarket food that is tested for pathogens and is fit for human consumption
(supposedly), game meat is another story; small/big game meat may contain parasites, the
animal may be diseased, your guess is as good as mine where the animal has been and what it’s
been exposed to prior to landing at the end of your skinning knife.
I know you all heard about hamburger meat infestation and stuff like that, so you know what
food poisoning means. Therefore, you must be extra careful when handling the meat, especially
when you’re in a real life survival situation and you don’t have access to medical services.
You must understand the dangers of gutting the animal incorrectly: there are blood-borne
diseases/parasites and dangers associated with wild food, like warbles (a common parasite that
is found in wild game) or Tularemia (rabbit fever). Also, the raw game meat must be properly
cooked as soon as possible at a high enough temperature to destroy the potential harmful
bacteria.
One of the crucial things when it comes to field dressing is to get a clean shot when killing the
animal. If the bullet strikes the animal where it’s not supposed to, the internal organs may be
mixed together; along with the hair, parasites may enter into the carcass.
Eviscerating
A well-placed shot into the neck or torso (heart) should do the trick and it will also bleed the
animal out. Now, when dressing game, you must follow a few basic steps:
Use clean water at all times.
Be careful and don’t t let mud inside the carcass; the same goes for leaves, twigs or other
potential contaminants.
Keep the carcass open using a clean stick.
Always use a clean knife.
There are a few ways to field dress the game, but basically the first step is to eviscerate the
animal as quickly as possible after the shooting. In this way, you will prevent the loss of body
heat and also keep bacteria from multiplying on/inside the carcass. In order to reduce the risk of
infection, you should wear plastic gloves while gutting the animal. If you don’t have disposable
gloves, you should wash thoroughly with water and soap before and after the procedure.
In the beginning, you can spread the hind legs of the animal by propping a stick between them
in order to open up the carcass. The carcass itself should be hung from a tree or fixed on its
back, using logs or rocks to keep it steady.
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If the animal is a male, you must first remove its genitals, but keep the scrotum for later sex
identification. In case you shot a female, you must remove the udder first. It is recommended to
make a small incision, in order to prevent insects or dirt from spoiling the carcass during
transportation.
In the next step, you must use a well
sharpened and clean knife to perform an
evisceration cut, between the sternum all the
way along, to a point near the
scrotum/mammary glands.
You should lift the skin/muscle together while
performing this cut, through the hide and the
membrane.
You must try to avoid piercing the entrails and
the intestines, because these areas are most
likely to contain all sorts of bacteria associated
with food borne diseases.
Between cuts, you should clean the knife
frequently (using clean water or alcohol), to
avoid the contamination of the meat with
bacteria.
In order to successfully remove the entrails, you must perform a circular cut around the anus
orifice to loosen it up so it will come out easily at the same time with the rest of the intestines.
Now, you can pull the entrails out, beginning from the crotch area. At the same time you must
cut the tissue that connects the innards to the spine. In order to pull the entrails free, you must
cut all the tissue that holds the guts inside the carcass and don’t be scared of the blood; it will
be plentiful, but that’s normal.
The liver and the heart can be removed separately and placed in plastic bags as soon as possible
if you like to eat organ meat.
After removing the entrails, you must clean the cavity thoroughly and drain the blood. All visible
feces, dirt, hairs or bloodshot areas must be removed. The inside of the cavity must be wiped
using paper towels or a clean cloth (you can rinse it with clean water also).
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Once the field dressing is performed, you must remove the hide. If you plan to transport the
animal, you may leave the hide on, because it prevents the meat from being contaminated
during transportation. Also, leaving the hide on the carcass prevents the meat from drying.
Skinning
If you’re hunting small game, like rabbit or squirrel you can skin it prior to gutting it; things
change radically when it comes to animals like deer or bigger. Still, if you’re transporting it, it’s
better to leave the skin on.
Regardless of the animal, the principles of skinning are the same: first you cut around the
head/neck of the animal to start skinning it. Slice through the hide but stop before slicing
through the mea. Next you must remove the hide by tearing /cutting off the tissue that keeps it
connected to the carcass.
Basically, you must peel back the skin/hide in both directions (along the evisceration cut), using
your fingers and your knife when necessary. You must be careful not to let the hide to touch the
carcass, as it may contaminate it. At the very least, it will get hair on the tissue that’s extremely
difficult to remove.
In the end, you must remove the complete hide of the game so that you can access the meat
and begin the butchering process.
That is, after all, the name of the “game” – FOOD!
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Preserving Food When Surviving in
the Wild
In the aftermath of a major crisis there could be a time of hunger or starvation after your food
stockpile is depleted.
Life or death will depend upon your ability to hunt or fish, and then to preserve your game. The
best and easiest method to do this would be drying or smoking, as freezing would depend on
the weather.
Freezing
Fresh cleaned and packaged game and fish can be frozen for safe storage during the late fall
through the winter months. The temperature of the food must stay below 30 degrees at all
times.
Use fresh packed snow or ice cut from a nearby pond or a lake to build an ice house. Wrap the
ice in sawdust or wool to slow down the melting process.
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Dehydration
Overall, if you are looking for a low cost, space efficient method to store foods, few can rival
dehydration. When preparing foods, simply cut the food into evenly sized pieces that do not
exceed 1/4 inch in thickness. You will need to experiment with different drying times and
thicknesses to determine what will work best for each food type.
In order to get the best results, you should always choose fresh fruits and vegetables. If you buy
extra produce from a farmer’s market or even the local food store, make sure that you are
prepared to start the drying process within 6 - 12 hours. Even though some foods may last
longer, you will get the best flavor and quality by dehydrating as quickly as possible.
Just because you dried foods, it does not always follow that they will be edible, tasty, and
visually appealing. For example, once you cut apples into slices, they will begin to turn brown.
To prevent this, simply dip the pieces in lemon juice. You can also use this method for other
light colored vegetables and fruits that tend to discolor soon after cutting.
There are also a number of vegetables that do not lend themselves well to dehydration in the
raw state because they contain enzymes that cause them to become tough during the drying
process. In most cases, blanching or steaming will help alleviate this problem and also reduce
the chances of discoloration developing.
There are 4 ways to dehydrate foods:
Solar (works best for fruits and vegetables),
Heat Box,
Smoke House,
Electric Dehydrator for Foods (would not be available in case of a blackout, for example).
Sun Drying Foods
The fastest and easiest way to preserve meat, fish, and some fruits is to sun dry them. Start by
removing any tissue that is bruised, discolored, or infected. The wet surface of fruit, fish and
meat is an ideal growing area for bacteria and fly larva. Drying greatly reduces this problem plus
keeps the dried items fresh.
Clean and cut the foods to be dried into thin strips.
For meat and fish, cut the strips 4 inches wide by 10 to 12 inches long by about 1/2 inch
thick.
Cut scoring marks on both sides along the length of the meat or fish to be dried.
When this is done skewer the meat or fish open and suspend it on the racks or on the
rope to dry.
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Try to locate the rack or the suspending ropes outside of the camp to prevent scavengers from
reaching them. Choose an area where there is plenty of sunlight, and also a light breeze to keep
the flies away. If this is not possible, fan the rack or ropes to keep the flies away.
Note: Dried meat or fish should be kept on the rack till it has the look and feel of jerky.
Dried fish and meat can be store for a long time as long as they are stored in air and water tight
containers. Once they come in contact with moisture, they must be consumed or discarded.
Dried fish and meat can also be ground and pounded to be added to wilderness soups or stews.
Use a similar process to dry fruits and vegetables. Since plant based foods have different water
content levels, you should know how long it takes to dry each one, as well as how long they can
be safely stored.
How to Build a Drying Rack
Step 1: Cut 4 poles about 8 feet tall and 3 inches in diameter.
Step 2: Cut 5 poles about 6 feet long and 3 inches in diameter for horizontal meat or fish
hanging poles.
Step 3: Take the 4 tallest poles and make 2 sets of 2 poles lashed together about 1 foot from
the top.
Step 4: Lash 4 of the meat or fish horizontal poles into place starting at the top of the “V” of
the longer poles across to the other set of longer lashed poles. Each of the horizontal poles
should be spaced about 1 foot down from each other. The fifth horizontal pole will be lashed
to the back of the rack to help support the structure.
Step 5: After you have chosen the location for the drying rack anchor it by burying each leg
about 1 foot down.
Smoke Drying Technique
Smoking is another method of drying meat and fish if flies and other pests will not stay away
during the drying process, or you do not have enough sunlight.
Once again, start off by removing infected, bruised, or damaged tissue from the fish or
animal during the butchering and dressing process. Follow all of the basic guidelines for
preparing the meat or fish for drying in the sun.
Instead of laying strips out on racks to dry, skewer the meat or fish open and suspend it on
the smoking racks. Place the meat and racks in the smoke house and seal it shut.
See below for how to build and use smoke house.
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Smoked fish and meat can be stored for a long time if its dryness can be maintained. Store
in air and water tight containers.
How to Build and Use a Smoke House
Step 1: Cut 3 poles about 4 feet long and 3 inches in diameter.
Step 2: Lash these 3 poles together to form a teepee frame.
Step 3: Cut 4 horizontal rack poles that will be used to hang the meat on. These poles will be
cut to different lengths to be lashed to the teepee frame at different heights.
Step 4: Dig the fire pit in a circle 1 foot deep. Make sure that the teepee frame will cover it.
Step 5: Cover the teepee with clods of earth. Leave a small opening to hang up the skewered
meat or fish, and put two shovel fulls of smoldering hardwood embers in the fire pit.
Step 6: Close up the small opening with sod. This will make the smoke house almost airtight,
thus exposing the strips of meat or fish to the maximum amount of smoke.
Meat to be made into jerky will need a temperature of about 140 degrees F for 3 to 4 hours or
until done.
To cold smoke fish the temperature must be between 80 to 90 degrees F for 1 to 5 days or until
done.